Wednesday 26 November 2008

Son of the Return of Short Shorts VI

Pure Genius!

Tuesday 18 November 2008

Star Trek: The Trailer

What are you waiting for?

Some trailer, huh? From a weird Thelma and Louise homage to DS9 style starship porn. Everything you'd want really.

Wednesday 12 November 2008

Quantum Of Solace: A Mini Review

I read a review of The Kingdom somewhere that said it was like watching a perfectly decent movie with a vibrator strapped to your face.

Well, QoS is like watching Casino Royale in much the same way.

I hope that it is the second part in a trilogy and the overdone Bourne-isms here are an attempt to show that this is the Wrath of Bond. And that, having worked out his anger, he'll continue moving toward a smoother, suaver Bond.

In hardly any of the set pieces is an attempt made to establish the space in which the protagonists are moving or their spatial relation to each other so all the action is pretty much meaningless. Even the Bourne movies made some concession to this and Casino Royale's brilliant Parkour sequence seems oddly old-fashioned by comparison.

QoS is not a bad movie in many ways, but in its attempt to make a "gritty" Bond it has gone a little too far in the gloss removal. As I said, if the subsequent movies justify excesses of this one as a part of the journey then I will feel a whole lot more warmly about it, but for the moment I'm not so sure.

For me the best scene was at the end, it had a stillness and it seemed to rhyme with the opening of Casino Royale. Craig can be genuinely scary in quiet moments.

Tuesday 11 November 2008

Son of the Return Of Short Shorts Part V

Hope and Change.

Wednesday 5 November 2008

Telegraph Lambasts Government For Giving Sensible Advice

The headline says "Absurd" new guidelines advise pet owners against allowing dogs to beg at the table, because, obviously the Government has no right to tell us how to care for our pets.

The fun thing, though, is in the first paragraph:

Chocolate, raisins or grapes are "poisonous" for pets, according to the code


I've not checked for raisins and grapes, but it's long been known that chocolate can be harmful to dogs. As snopes has it:

Theobromine [a chemical found in chocolate] affects the heart, central nervous system, and kidneys, causing nausea and vomiting, restlessness, diarrhea, muscle tremors, and increased urination. Cardiac arrhythmia and seizures are symptoms of more advanced poisoning. Other than induced vomiting, vets have no treatment or antidote for theobromine poisoning. Death can occur in 12 to 24 hours.

So chocolate is not "poisonous" it's straight up actual poisonous.

Tuesday 4 November 2008

Light Posting Will Be Resumed Soon

So, I was away last week. I'm back now, though, so expect the current Short Shorts run to continue, with perhaps an occasional longer post.

I'll try and squeeze out a Short Short today, but if not now then definitely tomorrow.